Back Home
"Wake up, Laina, we're home," Alex tried waking her for the third time in a row. Ten minutes had passed since they had gotten home yet she was still sleeping soundly. The driver was ready to leave already!
"Mmmm," she repeated the same sound for the third time. He sighed, placing his hands behind her back and under her legs, he carried her out of the car.
Elaina's eyes slowly opened and closed back. This action repeated itself three times before her eyes finally opened clearly.
"We're home already?" she asked when she saw the ceiling of their home.
"Yes," Alex dropped her gently on a chair in the living room.
"Thank you, Alex," she thanked him. She bent to unbuckle the straps of her stilettos while Alex went to the kitchen and came back with bottles of cold water.
He sat down beside her and opened a bottle, "You must be thirsty," he gave her the opened bottle.
She took the bottle of water from him and thanked him before drinking it.
After drinking the water, she rested her head on the couch. "I'm so sleepy, Alex," she stated before falling asleep again.
°°°
Elaina wore her pajamas after having her bath and then lay on her bed with a thump. It had been a struggle to go up the stairs and have her bath after falling asleep in the sitting room but she made it.
She didn't know why she was so tired, thinking back to the ball, all she did was dance though she did run a bit, she didn't think it was enough to warrant her exhaustion.
Her heavy eyelids that haven't been rid of the sleep closed and opened slowly, the experiences of the ball replayed in her mind.
The lights of the ball had been fascinating, especially the ones on the dance floor. Her dance with Alex had been liberating but the dance with Alois Trancy was the opposite.
He had a piercing gaze that wanted to uncover her secrets and somewhere she felt that he had uncovered the secret she tried the hardest to hide, her eyes. His words played in her head, 'We will meet again'.
But there was no way they could meet as he was an elite and she was a commoner, what business could they have with each other but the way he had spoken so confidently troubled her, it was as if he was sure that they would meet again and their next meeting would be a bad one, she could feel it in her bones.
Next was the dance with Mr. Miller. He was nice and she enjoyed speaking to him, then her thoughts moved to the blue and green-eyed man. She had caught his name,
"Mael," she said aloud. She remembered his fingers on her skin and the way he had gently patted her head to straighten her hair. Butterflies erupted in her stomach and she took her pillow and hugged it close to her chest.
He didn't switch because he wanted to spend more time with her and he had sensed that she was tired and had stopped dancing. The way they had stood at the center of the dance floor in the spotlight while others danced around them was a special memory she would forever cherish.
Her heavy eyelids closed to blink but they didn't open again as she fell asleep with thoughts of the man named Mael.
°°°
After a few hours of sleeping, Elaina started to turn in her sleep. Left, right, and center, she tried to find the most comfortable spot on her bed but there was none. She sighed internally and sat up slowly.
She rubbed her right eye as her vision adapted to the brightness in the room, indicating that it was morning already. Did she forget to leave her windows open? she asked herself and the curtain flapped at the same time to tell her she didn't.
Then why was it so hot? she thought as she pushed her blanket off her body. A mild layer of sweat had formed on her skin which was slowly increasing as she grew hotter.
She stood from her bed and walked to her bathroom while rubbing her right eye. Standing in front of the basin, she splashed water on her face which helped to cool her down but after a few more splashes, the water started to feel warm on her face and hands.
"What is going on?" she asked her reflection in the mirror above the basin.
She rubbed her right eye again. Earlier, she thought it was because she had just woken up but her eye was tingling. It was an uncomfortable feeling that was growing by the second.
Deciding to take a bath, Elaina picked up her towel and stepped into the shower but after a few minutes, she almost ran out of the shower because the water got burning hot. Every drop of the water had felt like boiling water that wanted to burn her skin.
After wearing her clothes, she sat on her bed. "This isn't a fever, is it?" she placed her hand on her forehead, feeling her rising temperature. But bath water was colder during a fever and not hotter.
Standing up from her bed, she walked out of her room in search of a cold bottle of water, hoping it would help her condition. She turned at the end of the hallway and stood at the top of the stairs which looked longer than normal.
Carefully, Elaina went down the stairs one step at a time while using the railings to support herself. She clung to the railings like a magnet to metal because she knew that one wrong move and she was going to tumble down the stairs.
She was almost at the foot of the stairs with just two more steps left, when she tripped on her foot and stumbled down the remaining stairs. She almost fell but the wall was there to stop her momentum.
"I won't forget your act of kindness," Elaina said to the wall. She rested her head on the wall as she tried to catch her breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She wanted to call someone, either her mother or Alex but she couldn't find the strength to raise her voice and she didn't know when they would leave their rooms.
Slowly, she walked to the kitchen while using the wall as her support, and by the time she got to the kitchen, Elaina barely had enough energy to stand.
She leaned on the kitchen island to catch her breath and when she moved her hand, she accidentally knocked a mug over. The mug rolled on the island and when it had no more surface to roll on, it fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.
Ah, that was her mum's favorite mug. Elaina felt bad but there were greater problems for her to worry about. With a small burst of energy, she took fast steps to the fridge and quickly held onto the fridge's handle for support. With her legs starting to give up on her, the fridge was her only hope.
She gathered the last strength she had and opened the fridge. When she did, she saw flames appear and disappear. Her eyes widened, not just because of the flames but because she had only seen it flash in her right eye while her left eye saw the contents in the fridge.
She turned her head around but the kitchen was normal. Her head was pounding so perhaps it had started playing tricks on her. She grabbed a bottle of water and the bottle steamed when she touched it. Out of reflex, she quickly threw the bottle away and Alexander entered the kitchen just in time to see the bottle steam.
"Elaina!" he quickly called her, alarmed at what he saw.
"Alex?" she looked at him, fear and confusion swirling in her eyes, "What's happening to-" she started but her heart dropped in her chest with what she saw on him. It was blurry but the outline of his body was surrounded by a raging wide darkness that followed his every movement. What's more, she only saw the darkness with her right eye while the vision of her left eye was normal just like what happened with the flames.
She was about to ask about it but the moment she blinked, the darkness was gone without a trace.
A sharp pang shot through her right eye and she flinched. She clutched her right eye with her hand and applied pressure on it. It throbbed like something wanted to tear out of her eye. A sharper pang shot through her eye again and she cried out,
"Ahh!" tears flowed from her eyes. Something thick and warm flowed from her eye to her hand and she brought it downwards to look at it. Her hazy vision focused on her hand and her eyes widened, Blood?!
"Elaina!" she heard Alex call and she looked at him. "Alex," she sobbed but her voice hitch in her throat and her heart rate spiked. The darkness was back.
She instinctively stepped back when he tried to touch her, her eyes on the raging darkness flowing from him that looked like it wanted to consume her.
Her eyes throbbed and the flames appeared and disappeared again. After that, all she saw was darkness and she fell forward into the deep endless abyss.